BALTIMORE — The FDA on Thursday approved improved versions of Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 booster shots that target the KP.2 strain of the coronavirus, which officials say has spread rapidly in recent months and is raising growing warnings as fall approaches and it becomes a hotbed of respiratory disease.
“The virus is changing, but also infection from past infections and past vaccines weakens over time,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“At the peak of the respiratory season last fall and winter, 10% of the U.S. population was sick with the flu and more than 2,500 people a week were dying from COVID-19,” said Jeff Nesbitt, assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Older people are at risk
Health officials are especially urging Marylanders who are elderly or immunocompromised to make sure they are up to date on their annual booster, flu shots and respiratory syncytial virus vaccines to avoid trips to the emergency room.
“What we're talking about is a vaccine that is evolving, and it's likely that over the next four or five months we'll see further evolution from the current vaccines,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration.
“So we really need to make sure we're taking the highest level of precautions that we can as we go into this season where we know there will be more COVID-19 and influenza viruses circulating,” Cohen said.
Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have already started shipping their latest vaccines as improved boosters have been approved, and officials are encouraging those most at risk to get vaccinated as soon as possible, while others could wait until October for maximum protection.
But their message is: do it anyway to protect yourself and others.
“COVID-19 is not the flu, but what we really need is for people to get vaccinated, and that's what this campaign is about,” Marks explained.
The Biden administration has announced that it will be mailing four free COVID test kits to Americans starting in late September, a win-win to help keep people safe as we head into respiratory illness season.
